Many conventional computing systems utilize an operating system including a graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate ease of us of the computing system. Typically a graphical user interface allows a user to graphically view and manipulate the files as icons utilizing an input device such as a mouse or keyboard. Many of these operating systems utilize file managers to organize files stored on computer readable storage media within the computing system. To identify the type of file, e.g. word-processing, graphical, spreadsheet, or other type, the name of each file typically includes an identifier such as a name extension, e.g. “name.exe” to denote an executable file, or “name .jpg” to denote a graphical (picture) file formatted according to a JPEG standard, etc. The GUI will then utilize a look-up table to associate the type of file with a program associated with the identifier and display a predetermined graphical icon. For example, if the identifier indicates that the file is a graphical file, then an icon indicating a graphics program installed on the computer system will be displayed. If the look-up table does not include the identifier then a default graphical icon will be displayed.
File icons were first used on the Xerox Star, which was the first computer to use a graphical interface (GUI). With the adoption of Microsoft Windows® as one of the more popular operating systems for personal computers, depicting file icons by their type has been widely accepted within the industry. Additionally, this practice has spread to other operating systems such as Apple's OS X, Unix and the various graphical user interfaces that have been developed for Linux.
Many times, the icons are too small and/or the resolution of the display on which they are viewed makes it difficult to easily determine the file associations. To address this problem, some GUIs have been adapted so that the file name may be displayed in color, though these are generally limited to a small number of colors. Another attempt to address this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,139 to Amro, wherein it is disclosed that the icons are utilized to display the parent file type while a border disposed about the icon is utilized to identify the type of file, e.g. whether the file is executable, or a graphics file, etc. While this system may be utilized to provide a greater amount of information to a user, e.g. the file type and the parent application, the system still fails to convey other useful information such as the size of the file, when the file was last used/accessed, and who created and/or who has access to the file.
While the '139 patent attempts to include additional information through the use of the graphical user interface, many times a user wishes to know more about the file without having to utilize any other programs. For example, it may be desirable to a system administrator who is performing maintenance on a local area network (LAN) to be able to quickly and efficiently determine when files have been accessed as well as the size of files. This would allow an administrator to remove files that are no longer in use, and to quickly determine ownership of files. This would be further useful at the user level, for example, when a user is attempting to clean up a hard drive or other storage device to free up space, or for other organizational cleanups. By being able to easily identify file sizes, when files were last used, etc., the user can more easily prioritize what is desired to be kept and what may be considered for removal or deletion.
Therefore there is a need for a graphical user interface that will display additional file information such as file size, ownership, when the file was last accessed/used. Such that a user may use this information to maximize the operation of the computer system.